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A Ninteenth Century Mystery.
On may 15, 1859, a child was born, She was the tenth child from a family of twelve. Her name was Ellen Sadler. there was nothing particularly remarkable about her, or any of the other children. Until Thursday, march 29, 1871, Ellen went to bed as usuall and did'nt wake up.and just like a sleeping beauty, she didn't wake for nearly ten years.
The story starts in a sleepy little village in the heart of the English countryside. Turville is situated in the Hambleden valley, in between Oxford and Buckinghamshire. About 400 people lived in the scattered parish, and the village was mainly dominated by the Bailey family who lived at Turville Court.
At the corner of school lane there lay an old cottage, that is still there. It was owned by a farm labourer called Frewen, his wife Ann, and her children,. the children were from her first marriage to a man called Sadler.
The day started off normally, Frewen and the children got up and went about their business, but itt wasn't until they realised that Ellen wasn't getting ready, that they began to suspect there was something wrong. Ellen was a quiet child most of the time, sedate, and thoughtful.
She was also known to be dreamy, and had a listless manner about her which could be quite disturbing. Sometimes her distant expression and melancholy ways, made her brothers and sisters, leave her to her own thoughts, knowing that she didn't want to join in with their childish games and sports. She didn't have any friends and most of the time, she just sat at the bedroom window looking out at the world.
She was also known to be dreamy, and had a listless manner about her which could be quite disturbing. Sometimes her distant expression and melancholy ways, made her brothers and sisters, leave her to her own thoughts, knowing that she didn't want to join in with their childish games and sports. She didn't have any friends and most of the time, she just sat at the bedroom window looking out at the world.
She had a great reverence for sacred things, and was always good and obedient, but it troubled her mother that she would sit for hours, by the fireside, with her head in her hands, staring at the flames and watching the shadows as they danced across the walls.
In fact the only time she would show any animation was when her father would return from the nearest tavern slightly the worst for wear, and she would give him a good talking too.!
At eleven years old, coming from an impoverished village, she had to start work. Her parents sent her to Marlow to become a nursemaid for a family with two young children.
This employment didn't last for long. Her fits of somnolence became regular and she became so stupid and useless (the words used at the time), that her mistress could not keep her.
After she had been discharged from the job, she started to complain about a constant pain in her head, evidently it was much more than just a normal headache,her parents became worried and sent her to a doctor in nearby Marlow, who diagnosed an abscess.
Poor little Ellen was sent to Reading hospital, and stayed there for seventeen weeks. Feeling a little bit better, she was sent home to Turville on Tuesday, March 27, 1871.
Two days later, on the Thursday, Ellen went to sleep.
A Dr. Hayman, from nearby Stockenchurch, rushed in his pony and trap, as quickly as he could , but by the time he got there, she couldn't be roused. as she lay there, apparently dead, her almost imperceptible breathing was the only thing showed she still had life in her body.
So began what even the great paper, The Times, called , 'one of the most astounding, inexplicable, physiological phenomena ever known'.
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